The governments of the United Kingdom and the United States reported that Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have detained three British citizens and an American, including a former freelance television journalist who has been coming to Afghanistan for more than 40 years.
A number of British individuals are now held by the Taliban, according to a statement released by the British government this week. Despite the government’s refusal to reveal their identities, Hassina Syed, the wife of Peter Jouvenal, a former freelance cameraman turned businessman, told The Associated Press that her husband was abducted on December 13th.
On Sunday, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ that Washington was ‘actively trying’ to free the American detainee. He refused to say anything else, citing the ‘sensitivity of the situation.’
The American detainee, as well as at least four other British nationals in custody, are still unknown to the public. It was unclear how many people were detained at the same time.
Syed, an Afghan, told by phone from her home in London that her husband was in Afghanistan looking into business options, including investing in lithium mining. Lithium, a vital component of energy-storage batteries, is abundant in Afghanistan. She claimed that he was travelling alone and not with the other captives.
During the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in the 1980s, Jouvenal worked as a freelance cinematographer and followed the country through its numerous wars. He married Syed and has three daughters with her.
Before being jailed in December, Jouvenal, who knows both Pashto and Dari, Afghanistan’s two official languages, had many meetings with the Taliban’s mining ministry, including with the minister, according to Syed. No charges have been filed, and Jouvenal had been cautious to maintain regular communication with Taliban authorities until his imprisonment, according to Syed, to ensure that they were aware of his actions and whereabouts.
Jouvenal owned and maintained the Gandamak Restaurant and Guest House in Kabul in the mid-2000s, which became well-known among the many journalists who visited Afghanistan during the US-led assault that deposed the Taliban administration in 2001.
The British Foreign Office claimed in a statement that the Taliban is discussing the imprisonment of British citizens.
“UK authorities have discussed their detention with the Taliban at every opportunity,” the British foreign office said in a statement earlier this week, ‘particularly when a party travelled to Kabul last week.’
The detentions have been without explanation.
Syed stated that her husband was travelling alone and not with the other men who had been detained. At least two of the detainees were presumably in Afghanistan to surreptitiously evacuate Afghan citizens, according to persons with intimate knowledge of the guys currently being held in Taliban custody. Because of the sensitivity of the discussions, persons with direct knowledge spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Afghans without valid documentation will not be permitted to leave the country, according to the Taliban.
Syed was concerned that her husband was being investigated by the Taliban for attempting to discreetly move Afghan people out of the country.
Syed, on the other hand, claimed she, too, planned to return to Afghanistan after her husband’s initial trip in search of mining partners. They planned to form cooperative enterprises together.
Syed expressed concern for her husband’s safety, as well as frustration with the Taliban administration, in a telephone interview.
‘They say they want foreign and Afghan businesses to come to Afghanistan and invest, but why would anyone want to invest if their safety is uncertain?’ she enquired.
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